3 stars
How to Make Millions as a Professional Whistleblower | GQ
A little-known provision in US law permits anyone to blow the whistle on financial fraud—and potentially take home a percentage of the funds collected. One undercover sleuth has made a wild career out of it.
Why Can't the U.S. Build Ships? | Construction Physics
For those of us worried about America’s ability to manufacture things, there’s no shortage of worrying indicators to point to. Manufacturing employment has fallen by a third from its peak in 1979, even as the population has grown by nearly 50% over the same period. Storied manufacturing companies like Boeing and Intel are struggling. From machine tools to industrial robots to consumer electronics, the list of American industries where manufacturing capability has been hollowed out is long.
Another worrying indicator is shipbuilding capacity. Commercial shipbuilding in the U.S. is virtually nonexistent: in 2022, the U.S. had just five large oceangoing commercial ships on order, compared to China’s 1,794 and South Korea’s 734. The U.S. Navy estimates that China’s shipbuilding capacity is 232 times our own. It costs twice as much to four times as much to build a ship in the U.S. as it does elsewhere. The commercial shipbuilders that do exist only survive thanks to protectionist laws like the Jones Act, which serve to prop up an industry which is uncompetitive internationally. As a result, the U.S. annually imports over 4 trillion dollars worth of goods, 40% of which are delivered by ship (more than by any other mode of transportation), but those ships are overwhelmingly built elsewhere.
2 stars
Societies of perpetual movement | Aeon
Why do hunter-gatherers refuse to be sedentary? New answers are emerging from the depths of the Congolese rainforest
The Sustained Two-Shot | Every Frame a Painting [YouTube]
What do you do when you’ve got two actors, a bunch of dialogue, and only enough time to get one camera angle? Consider one of the oldest tools in the filmmaking toolbox: the sustained two-shot.
The Myth, the Murders, and the Matter of the Bloody Countess Báthory | The Cutprice Guignol
The image is, arguably, one of the most iconic in the history of folklore and horror alike: the Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory bathing in the blood of one of the hundreds of servant girls she murdered, intent on using their gore to preserve her own youth and beauty. Sharing a bloodline with Vlad the Impaler and Dracula alike, this version of Báthory remains one of the most infamous female serial killers in history – and, with a claimed body count of more than 650 victims, one of the most prolific of all time, too.
But how accurate is this version of Báthory to the one who actually lived in 17th-century Hungary? Did Báthory commit hundreds of murders that went undetected for several years? Did she bathe in the blood of her victims? Did she, in fact, do any of it, or was she subject to an ill-supported attack intended to strip her of her property after the death of her husband? There’s a lot to get into with this story, but it’s a truly fascinating one, so I hope you’ll join me in a deep-dive into the myth of Elizabeth Báthory, and the truth of her alleged crimes (or as close as we can get to it, four hundred years later).
Political Gender Polarization Among Young People | Restoration Bulletin
Not much new here, but a good review article:
Across most of the developed world, the political attitudes and voting behavior of young women have moved well to the left of young men over the last decade. Young women are becoming increasingly progressive while young men either stand still or move to the right, including the populist right. In this post I want to address two questions about the ideological and partisan polarization in Gen Z: What is the magnitude of the gap, and what is causing it?
1 star
The Secret Inside One Million Checkboxes | eieio.games
A few days into making One Million Checkboxes I thought I’d been hacked. What was that doing in my database?
A few hours later I was tearing up, proud of some brilliant teens.
But let’s back up.
Researchers make mouse skin transparent using a common food dye | Stanford Report
In a stunning experiment, researchers were able to see through a living mouse’s skin to its internal organs, simply by applying common light-absorbing molecules.
Ping Pong Level: 9999 | Pongfinity [YouTube]
The best ping pong shots of 2023!
Diversity Won't Make Your Company More (Or Less) Productive | Persuasion
A new study shows that when it comes to performance, there isn’t much to either fear or to gain from diversifying.
Why Don’t We Have Flying Cars? | Marginal Revolution
It’s not at all obvious that the regulation of personal aircraft has been more strict than that of automobiles. So why the big difference in outcomes? There is, however, one small but potentially very important difference between the regulation of cars and aircraft.
In Defense Of "I'm Sorry You Feel That Way" | Astral Codex Ten
People hate this phrase. They say it’s a fake apology that only gets used to dismiss others’ concerns. Well, I’m sorry they feel that way.